The book itself is well worthy of the name "classic". It is deep, intelligent and moving, and the most impressive thing about it, to me, was the apparent ease with which the author portrays such a complex protagonist and such deep feelings. However, I was only able to reach these conclusions after reading a print version of the book, since in the audiobook I could only barely follow the story.

The problem with the narrator is very simple: his voice is just too deep. He's not an untalented narrator, in that his pronunciation is very clear and he reads without any errors (I think I detected a hint of accent -- South African, perhaps?). However, he reads at such a low pitch that it is very hard to decipher what he's saying. Most of the time it sounds like someone grumbling to himself in another room. This would be a perfect voice for some sort of "mountain-man" in an animated film, but constantly straining to understand the narrator is not what you want in an audiobook.

The narrator had a good voice for listening to. His pace was fine in the first chapter or two. Then it was as if he was told to pick up the pace because he started reading so fast and blurring his words together it was unpleasant to listen to any longer. I was really getting into the story too. What a drag!

How could the performance have been better?

The narrator should have continued in the same pace he used at the beginning of the book.

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

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